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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27721211">Watch for flowers where you step</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/linolaughlove/pseuds/linolaughlove'>linolaughlove</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Stray Kids (Band)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Boarding School, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Friends to Lovers, Han Jisung | Han is a Little Shit, High School, Lee Minho | Lee Know Is Bad at Feelings, M/M, Pranks and Practical Jokes</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-11-26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-11-26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 16:42:29</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,542</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27721211</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/linolaughlove/pseuds/linolaughlove</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Minho and Felix transfer to a prestigious boarding school in their senior year. They start to discover not all of the teachers are there to help them, not everyone is who they say they are, and that if you don't watch where you step you will end up crushing beautiful things under your feet.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Bang Chan/Lee Felix, Han Jisung | Han/Lee Minho | Lee Know, Hwang Hyunjin/Kim Seungmin</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>10</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Watch for flowers where you step</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Minho glanced to his left, side eyeing the other new kid. He thought he would be the only unfortunate mother fucker to transfer in their senior year, but there was one other boy. He looked about as happy as Minho felt, his eyebrows knit together and lips pressed together in a thin line. Minho turned back to the vice principal who was currently blabbering on about the handbook and other unwritten rules of conduct. </p><p>“…and no skirts more than five inches above the knee, but I’m sure you boys won’t have a problem with that one.” He let out a hearty chuckle and winked. Minho and the other boy shared a weary smile.<br/>
“And absolutely no violence is tolerated. Bullying, physical altercations, the works.” He looked pointedly at Minho after he said this, who’s expression didn’t falter. It didn’t come as a surprise that they knew about his record, a school this prestigious would have done a thorough background check before admittance. He was lucky he even got in. The kid beside him didn’t seem to notice the pause. His leg was tapping relentlessly and Minho resisted the urge to reach over and hold it down. </p><p>“I still have more to go over but class starts soon and you need to get changed. Please read the rest in your own time, and don’t forget to pick up your uniforms at the front desk. Felix, tell your mother I said hello.” The blonde boy’s, Felix, leg stopped tapping. He gave another forced smile before grabbing his bag followed closely behind by Minho. </p><p> </p><p>---------------------------------------</p><p> </p><p>This time it was actually not Jisung’s fault. </p><p>Like all traditions, it was difficult to pinpoint exactly when it had started. The small group of three had at one point settled on pranking each other on the first day of school. Last year, Jisung had ended up glued to his desk chair. Chan’s entire black t-shirt collection had holes cut out where the nipples would be. He really should have seen that one coming with the amount of times Changbin insisted on watching Mean Girls for movie night. The year before, Jisung had filled Changbin’s toothpaste tube with mayo and snuck wasabi into his mint chocolate chip ice cream. Chan had paid two middle schoolers to follow Jisung around and applaud everything he did. When he stood up to sharpen a pencil. When he asked for a hall pass to use the bathroom. At first it had been a weirdly effective confidence booster, but at the end of the day Jisung had to fork out just as much money to get them to leave. They were ruthless but all in good fun. What was he supposed to do, just skip this year and let his friends prank without him? Although technically this year Chan was no longer a student, he would still find a way. Schools like this one were founded on tradition after all.</p><p>Before class he handed a blank manila envelope to some quiet girl he knew Changbin would trust blindly, with clear instructions to hand it to the person sitting next to him. It wasn’t unusual to receive packets of information on the first day. And Changbin always sat beside him because they always had first period together. The plan was solid. (It wasn’t). </p><p>In order to pull this off Jisung had, for once in his life, arrived to class early. He sat in his seat practically vibrating. He wouldn’t be able to face Changbin like this, he’d take one look at his face and know. So he rested his head on his arms, hoping that when Changbin arrived he would think he was sleeping and not hiding his big fat grin. Only a minute or two passed before Jisung heard the chair beside him scrape across the floor as it was pulled out. He tried to slow his breathing and remain still, the urge to look up was already eating at him. He listened as the “nice and quiet” classmate had walked up to hand Changbin the envelope saying something about forms to fill out for the teacher. That was good, Jisung hadn’t even told her to say that. He made a mental note to learn her name. </p><p>Jisung reached his breaking point and looked up, right at<br/>
Not Changbin.  The new kid sitting beside him gave him a weird look after Jisung’s head shot up and watched the grin slide off his face. That was not Changbin. Where was he? He whipped his head around to scan the room with no luck. By the time his eyes made it back to the boy beside him (holy shit what a side profile), he was already opening the envelope.</p><p> </p><p>Fuck. </p><p> </p><p>“Ah, wait-“ Jisung started while reaching for the envelope but it was too late. </p><p> </p><p>In less than a second, new kid was covered in so much glitter you probably could have seen him from space. Jisung let out a strangled noise and then laughed once before slapping a hand over his mouth. The room was filled with a stunned silence broken by a few brave snickers.<br/>
New kid sat with his eyes closed, maybe to keep the glitter out, more likely because he was contemplating murder. </p><p>Another moment passed and Jisung pulled himself together enough to start spitting out apologies and an explanation while wiping the seemingly infinite amount of sparkles covering not-Changbin. This, had it gone as planned, would have been a damn good prank. Changbin should have been the one finding glitter in his pockets, weeks, maybe months, later. He had worked his way up to ruffling the micro-plastics out of his hair when the seated boy’s eyes finally opened and Jisung froze, his third apology dying in his throat. The situation of just how badly he fucked up hit him and he realized if he didn’t remove his hands from new kid’s hair, he would lose them. </p><p> He had just started to retreat when new kid grabbed his wrist and stood, jerking Jisung along with him, who flinched and braced for impact. </p><p>Before Jisung could get tired of holding his breath, an impossibly loud and familiar laugh broke the tension. He slowly opened up his eyes to see Changbin kneeled over in the doorway wheezing in between laughs. That fucker. He didn’t realize Jisung was on the brink of death. Jisung tried to imagine what they looked like standing there, him with his tail between his legs and the taller boy looking like a victim of a craft store explosion. It was a little difficult to find it funny when the new kid had a death grip on his wrist and murder eyes. Changbin was immediately ushered out of the way by their teacher who paused upon taking in the scene. </p><p>“Lee Minho. I know you are new here but please stick to the dress code. Go get cleaned up and come back when you are less… flashy.” She rubbed her temples. Minho (Jisung wouldn’t forget his name anytime soon for self-preservation purposes, not only because he looked godly even when covered in glitter) took a second to look at him and squeezed his wrist slightly before letting go. A warning. </p><p>“As for you, Han Jisung, you know the way to the office. Please focus on graduating so I don’t have to deal with you next year.”<br/>
Both of them were led out of the classroom and Jisung flinched again as the door slammed behind them. He turned to get the hell out of there but was stopped by a grip on his arm. He turned around wide eyed. Minho stood there looking at him like someone would look at gum on the bottom of their shoe. Great, his teacher had just provided Minho the perfect opportunity to finish him off. </p><p>“Okay I deserve it but it was honestly a mistake so can you avoid my nose I broke it once and it’s kind of messed up-“<br/>
He didn’t finish because Minho’s hand let go of his arm and Jisung looked up at him puzzled.<br/>
Minho audibly sighed and rolled his eyes. “I’ll keep that in mind. Which way is the bathroom?”<br/>
It took Jisung a solid ten seconds to process that he wasn’t going to get hit. Minho’s face slipped into a bored expression as he watched Jisung blink. Eventually, he pointed to the left, mumbling to go down the hall and make a right. </p><p>Minho turned wordlessly and walked away. The light streaming in from the windows hit the glitter covering his head and shoulders making him not unlike a human disco ball. Jisung, now out of immediate danger, let out a chuckle at the thought. Minho heard despite seeming out of earshot and whipped around to glare, and Jisung booked it in the other direction. </p><p> </p><p>---------------------------------------------</p><p> </p><p>Felix was having a shit day. As if being a transfer in his senior year wasn’t enough. He read his schedule wrong and showed up to biology instead of his pre-calc class, and realized it halfway through the period. He wasn’t even able to focus on the rest of the material because he was too busy kicking himself for his mistake and then wondering if it would be weird and disruptive if he got up and left. He ended up staying the entire class and missing pre-calc. If he was being honest, he didn’t know why the school allowed those subjects right before lunch. How was anyone supposed to focus on polynomial functions on an empty stomach?</p><p>It would have been easier if he wasn’t a transfer. If he knew one other person in the whole school. If he could stop resenting his parents for sending him here long enough to keep the scowl off his face and look slightly approachable. Felix had given in to his shitty mood and decided to avoid the disaster that would be eating in the cafeteria. He grabbed a candy bar and a water from some ancient looking vending machine and opted for exploring outside. </p><p>Felix’s attitude started to dissipate as he spent some time breathing the fresh air and had some time alone. The school’s gardens were beautiful. Hedges and shrubbery were obviously well tended to, and vines that grew small white flowers wrapped around the bottom of tall trees. Every now and then he would come across a statue that students had attempted to carve into or had been painted over, or a fountain that was long out of commission and held still rainwater. The grounds were a lot bigger than he had expected and as he stuffed his candy bar wrapper in his pocket, he did a full turn, not seeing the top of the main building anywhere. Felix checked his watch. Only eleven minutes before class. He made so many turns during his walk he didn’t even know which direction he came from. </p><p>He already missed one class, if he missed two? That would seem a lot like skipping. He was sure that because he was new they would probably be keeping a closer eye on him than other students as is. Felix chose what path he thought seemed most familiar and started power walking.<br/>
Because of his stress, he was walking a little faster than he should have and his foot slipped and twisted uncomfortably, and then he was on the ground. He stilled, his hands and knees stinging from catching himself on the gravel. It could be worse. He was lost and scraped up and maybe late but at least no one saw him fall.</p><p>“Oh my god are you alright?” A voice suddenly said from behind him. In a second the stranger had a hand under his arm and was pulling Felix to his feet. There was genuine concern on his face and Felix started to flush slightly pink under his freckles.<br/>
“I- I’m good I just slipped. I got a little lost, do you know which direction the main building is?” He started wiping off dirt and rocks from his knees.<br/>
“Ah, it’s not exactly a straight shot from here. I can help you find your way back?”<br/>
Felix nodded.</p><p>“My name is Bang Chan, but you can call me Chan, or Chris, whatever is fine.” He held out his hand to shake but before Felix’s hand made contact Chan grabbed his wrist instead, turning it so that he could see his scrapped up bloodied palm.<br/>
“Maybe we should visit the nurse first, yeah?”<br/>
Felix gave a shy smile and they started walking back. He struggled to find something to talk about, his awkwardness was a direct result of not having to socialize all day. </p><p>“So… why aren’t you in a uniform?” He settled on asking him. Chan was dressed in a casual black t-shirt and light-colored jeans.<br/>
“Well I actually graduated last year but I am taking a gap year. My uncle who teaches here managed to get me a job for a little while, where I help out with landscaping and other small stuff.” He took a pair of bright yellow gardening gloves out of his pocket and waved them to Felix to prove his point.<br/>
“But you think I still look young huh? I guess I should take that as a compliment. What about you, ?” He paused at the end and Felix realized he forgot to introduce himself. </p><p>“My name is Yongbok, but I prefer Felix. I just transferred here, which is why I got lost and you saw me fall on my ass.”<br/>
“Aw come on it wasn’t that bad. The nurse will hook you up with some really cool band aids, promise.” Felix scrunched up his nose and smiled.<br/>
“Have you made any friends yet, Felix?” Chan asked innocently. Felix paused and started to realize that the first person he talked to wasn’t even a student. He wouldn’t be able to sit with him at lunch or have any classes with Chan. </p><p>“That’s alright. The day isn’t even over yet, give it a little time. I don’t technically go here but I count right? If you don’t want to be friends with the gardener hag that is fine too I guess” He crossed his arms and pretended to be hurt.<br/>
“Mmm… I guess. You count.” It was difficult to act tough around Chan when he was so bright. The dimples didn’t help much either.<br/>
By now they were back in the main building and outside the nurse’s office. </p><p>“Hey.” Chan said and waited until Felix met his eyes. “Come find me, yeah?”<br/>
“If I get lost?”<br/>
“If you get lost. Or if you need someone to watch you fall on your ass again.” Chan smiled wide. Felix did the nose scrunch again and hit him playfully on the arm.  Chan clutched the spot where Felix hit him.<br/>
“Keep that up and I’m gonna need the nurse too, geez.” Felix raised his hand again but didn’t swing<br/>
“Don’t you want a cool band aid too?”<br/>
“Ah, this kid, how are you gonna make friends like this?”<br/>
“Shouldn’t you be digging holes somewhere?” Chan stuck his tongue out at Felix and turned to go back to work.<br/>
“Hey!” Felix shouted. He paused and turned back around.<br/>
“Thank you.” Chan smiled and gestured for him to hurry up and get treated.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>This is my first time writing anything so please be kind and I hope you like it :-)<br/>I have so many ideas so it will probably be around 10-ish chapters?</p></blockquote></div></div>
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